We at Stanza are developing a review process that all new songs not published and sold at a reputable publisher such as Gospel Publishers or PrairieView Press must pass before being listed on Stanza. Our goal with this review process is to create a quality standard for Stanza that is similar to those maintained by other gospel song publishers while also giving our users access to new and popular songs.
Please note: this process is currently in development and we are not yet accepting new submissions.
How It Works
Each song is rated by anonymous reviewers on these four points:
1. Biblical: Pass or Fail
Do the lyrics contradict the Bible? Are there themes or phrases that are potentially misleading or that could be misunderstood? (Non-biblical songs are acceptable so long as they are not contradictory to biblical teaching.)
2. Inspirational: 1 – 5
Does it inspire? Is it fresh or unique? Is it enjoyable to sing? (This is a loose definition of inspirational. Is it original, does it have life?)
3. Understandable: 1 – 5
Can you understand the message of the song? Does it have proper grammar? (Children’s songs are acceptable.)
4. Singable: 1 – 5
Is it singable for average-good singers? Can it be sung without extreme difficulty? (We strongly suggest you personally sing it before scoring on this point.)
All songs need a total score of 9.0 to pass. If any reviewer fails a song on Biblical and provides a valid reason, we ask the author to reconsider. Once we have at least 8 reviews for a song, we average the scores on each point and add them together to get the final score.
When a song passes review, it goes into a queue of approved songs. They are not published individually for a few reasons: A song that is not in a book or collection in the app will not have good visibility and may never be sung, however, new books are featured in prominent places. We believe that requiring authors to publish songs together in a book will help to raise quality by moving away from quick publishing- e.g. “I wrote a song today, I’ll publish it tomorrow.”
Once we have enough songs for a Stanza book (around 20) we contact the authors to see if they are interested in collaborating on a digital book. If so, those songs then move forward toward publication. If not, the authors are free to do whatever they choose with their songs.
When a song does not pass review, we send the song back to the author with the final score and any helpful comments from the anonymous reviewers. If any reviewers are interested, we will put them in contact the author so they can work with them and help them improve their songs.
Are you interested in being a reviewer? Fill out and submit the form below and we may be in contact with you. Thanks for your interest in Stanza Review.